XLVI. But one thing more I preach unto you. The Station in which you shall presently stand after your Baptism before the Great Sanctuary [4203] is a foretype of the future glory. The Psalmody with which you will be received is a prelude to the Psalmody of Heaven; the lamps which you will kindle are a Sacrament of the illumination there with which we shall meet the Bridegroom, shining and virgin souls, with the lamps of our faith shining, not sleeping through our carelessness, that we may not miss Him that we look for if He come unexpectedly; nor yet unfed, and without oil, and destitute of good works, that we be not cast out of the Bridechamber. For I see how pitiable is such a case. He will come when the cry demands the meeting, and they who are prudent shall meet Him, with their light shining and its food abundant, but the others seeking for oil too late from those who possess it. And He will come with speed, and the former shall go in with Him, but the latter shall be shut out, having wasted in preparations the time of entrance; and they shall weep sore when all too late they learn the penalty of their slothfulness, when the Bride-chamber can no longer be entered by them for all their entreaties, for they have shut it against themselves by their sin, following in another fashion the example of those who missed the Wedding feast [4204] with which the good Father feasts the good Bridegroom; one on account of a newly wedded wife; another of a newly purchased field; another of a yoke of oxen; which he and they acquired to their misfortune, since for the sake of the little they lose the great. For none are there of the disdainful, nor of the slothful, nor of those who are clothed in filthy rags and not in the Wedding garment even though here they may have thought themselves worthy of wearing the bright robe there, and secretly intruded themselves, deceiving themselves with vain hopes. And then, What? When we have entered, then the Bridegroom knows what He will teach us, and how He will converse with the souls that have come in with Him. He will converse with them, I think in teaching things more perfect and more pure. Of which may we all, both Teachers and Taught, have share, in the Same Christ our Lord, to Whom be the Glory and the Empire, for ever and ever. Amen.
[4009] Enlightenment (photismos) is one of the most ancient names for Holy Baptism; the name, in fact, which S. Gregory uses throughout this Oration, and which his Latin translator almost invariably renders by Baptismus.
[4010] This Veil is Original Sin, by which the soul is darkened and as it were covered.
[4011] All Mankind (pan to plasma). plasma would not be correctly rendered by Creation. It is a word belonging solely to Man, who was formed by the Hand of God, and who, alone among creatures, has to give an account of his past life to his Creator at the Last Day. (Edd. Bened.)
[4012] Gen. ii. 7.
[4013] Rom. viii. 29.
[4014] Col. i. 18.
[4015] This is the literal version of the passage, which is somewhat loosely quoted from 1 S. Peter iii. 21, where the A.V. renders "the answer of a good conscience towards God," and the R.V., "The interrogation (Marg. inquiry) of a good conscience, etc." The passage is usually explained as referring to the Interrogatories in Holy Baptism, answered by the threefold Vow which enlists us "under Christ's banner against sin, the world, and the Devil," professes the Faith, and promises obedience.
[4016] 1 John i. 5.
[4017] 1 Tim. vi. 16.
[4018] John i. 9.
[4019] S. Thomas Aquinas (Summa I qu. 108) seems to solve this question in accordance with the second of these alternatives.
[4020] phos (masc) is a common poetical word for Man. It is probably derived from the root (Indo-Eur. Bha) of phao, which also appears in phemi and modified in phaino.
[4021] Prov. vi. 23.
[4022] Ps. cxix. 105.
[4023] Exod. xxxiv. 30.
[4024] Ib. iii. 2.
[4025] Ex. xiii. 21.
[4026] 2 Kings ii. 11.
[4027] Luke ii. 9.
[4028] Matt. ii. 9.
[4029] Luke ix. 32, 34.
[4030] Acts ix. 3.
[4031] Matt. xiii. 43.
[4032] Wisd. iii. 7.
[4033] Prov. xviii. 3 (LXX.).
[4034] Luke xiii. 8.
[4035] Rom. vi. 4; Col. ii. 12.
[4036] i.e., the Sacred Manhood.
[4037] Ephes. vi. 16.
[4038] 1 Kings xix. 11.
[4039] 2 Cor. ii. 11.
[4040] John vi. 33.
[4041] Matt. iv. 6.
[4042] Ps. xci. 14.
[4043] Heb. x. 4.
[4044] There is here an untranslatable play upon words.
[4045] Again a play upon words. Baptizesthai is sometimes used in the sense of to be drowned. The word primarily means to Immerse, and this of course, when applied to a ship, is to sink her. The practice of immersion in Holy Baptism was undoubtedly universal in the primitive ages, except where in cases of necessity persons were baptized in sickness, or in prison under sentence of death; and in such cases this "Clinic" Baptism, though recognized as valid, and therefore not to be repeated, was viewed as irregular, and disqualified its recipient from subsequently receiving Holy Orders. Affusion was gradually allowed, probably for climatic reasons, to become the prevailing practice of the West, though immersion predominated as late as the Twelfth Century. It is, however, a remarkable fact that the Didache, a Manual of instruction which some date within the lifetime of the Apostles, and nearly all are agreed in placing not later than the early years of the Second Century, expressly permits affusion, without any hint of irregularity, or mention of any circumstance of necessity except scarcity of water.
[4046] 2 Cor. vi. 2.
[4047] Ephes. v. 14.
[4048] Isa. xxviii. 19, LXX.
[4049] Eccl. iii. 1. sq.
[4050] Some mss. read "A flooded river."
[4051] Exod. xii. 22.
[4052] Prov. iii. 24.
[4053] Ps. xci. 5.
[4054] Billius suggests, though without adopting it in his text, a slight conjectural alteration, which would read "Than funeral games and libations;" but this, though it gives a very good sense, is a needless departure from the mss.
[4055] Luke ix. 60.
[4056] The Benedictine Editors punctuate differently, and render "Stand against passions with the assistance (of Baptism), be numbered in the army of God." remarking that David fought Goliath without allies, leaning on God's assistance; and that S. Gregory here certainly means that a Christian who relies on the aid of his Baptism is to stand firm in the battle against the Devil.
[4057] 1 Sam. xvii. 32.
[4058] Ib. xviii. 7.
[4059] 1 Sam. i. 10.
[4060] Ecclus. xxxii. 3.
[4061] John ii. 1-11.
[4062] en exousia evidently means Tui juris--your own master.
[4063] Gen. xix. 26.
[4064] Josh. vi. 25; James ii. 25.
[4065] Luke xviii. 14.
[4066] Matt. xx. 1 sq.
[4067] That S. Gregory did not reject infant Baptism is clear, from the directions given later on in this Oration (c. xxviii; and cf. c. xvii. s. fin.). He is here referring simply to the inability of infants to bring themselves to the font whereby through the mistaken scruples of parents many must have died unbaptized.
[4068] i.e., The sins which are due altogether to external tyranny do not involve guilt, inasmuch as they are involuntary, whereas the guilt of sin is in the will.
[4069] Ps. xxxiv. 5.
[4070] John xii. 35.
[4071] Ib. i. 4.
[4072] Prov. vi. 9.
[4073] Ps. cxli. 4.
[4074] The Festivals of Easter and Pentecost were set apart as early as the Second Century for the solemn administration of Holy Baptism; and S. Siricius Bishop of Rome about the time of S. Gregory of Nazianzus, states that all the Churches agreed in keeping these exclusively. But this is a mistake (though Van Espen says (II., c. i., tit. 2, c. 4) that S. Siricius acknowledges the existence of the different custom, but condemns it, and gives reference to ad. Himerum Tarraconensem, c. 2), for there is evidence that in many Churches the Epiphany also was thus observed, and in some Christmas also. But Tertullian (De Bapt.) says that no time is unsuitable. In the Western Church, however, Papal decrees, Conciliar Canons, and Imperial Capitularies from the VIth to the XIIIth. Centuries abound, limiting the administration, except in cases of sickness, to the two seasons of Easter and Pentecost, on the Vigils of which it is still provided for in the Missals. No doubt it was felt to be a very useful limitation, when most persons who were presented for Baptism were adults, and required preparation. When this ceased to be the case the rule gradually became obsolete, and has long ceased to be observed.
[4075] Matt. xxiv. 50.
[4076] Ps. xlii. 1.
[4077] Gen. xix. 15. sqq.
[4078] The allusion is to the well known story of Tantalus, whose punishment in hell was said to be that, being tormented with hunger and thirst, he was condemned to stand for ever in water up to his lips, but to be unable to drink, and to have a tree laden with luscious fruit within easy reach, but to be unable to gather of it.
[4079] Matt. xi. 12.
[4080] Prov. i. 11.
[4081] Ps. xcv. 1.
[4082] Mic. iv. 2.
[4083] Matt. xi. 28.
[4084] The A.V. is here used, as more accurate than the LXX. The passage is quoted freely from Lam. iv. 7.
[4085] John xx. 3.
[4086] Prov. iii. 28.
[4087] Acts viii. 36.
[4088] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
[4089] 1 Kings x. 1.
[4090] Matt. xii. 42.
[4091] Isa. lv. 1.
[4092] Acts xx. 35.
[4093] John iv. 7.
[4094] Isa. xxxii. 20.
[4095] Joel iii. 18; The Hebrew word rendered "rushes" by the LXX is in our Hebrew text Shittim--acacia trees.
[4096] Exod. xii. 22.
[4097] i.e. when there is no danger.
[4098] Luke iii. 23.
[4099] "All the City was moved." A.V., lit. "shaken as by earthquake."
[4100] Matt. xxi. 10.
[4101] i.e., the reasons why He was not baptized till He was thirty.
[4102] Here is an indication that the Forty Days of Lent were a well known observance in S. Gregory's time. At the Council of Nicæa this period was taken for granted. The Great Fast of the Eastern Church begins on the Monday after the Sunday corresponding to our Quinquagesima, and the Fast is kept to some extent even on Sunday.
[4103] Note the rule of Fasting Communion here recognized as universal.
[4104] Luke xvi. 19 sq.
[4105] Note that this allusion implies that Communion in both Kinds was given separately, as in the Anglican Church, not by intinction, as in the present Orthodox Eastern Church.
[4106] John i. 11.
[4107] Luke xix. 1 sq.
[4108] Galat. iii. 27.
[4109] Matt. xviii. 23, &c.
[4110] Ps. xxxii. 1.
[4111] Luke xiii. 11, which S. Gregory has apparently mixed with a recollection of Matt. xv. 21.
[4112] Matt. ix. 20.
[4113] John v. 1, &c.
[4114] Ib. v. 14.
[4115] John xi. 43.
[4116] Mark v. 3.
[4117] Ps. lxviii. 9.
[4118] Eccles. xii. 14.
[4119] Luke xvii. 12, &c.
[4120] Ib. vi. 6.
[4121] Ps. cxii. 9.
[4122] 1 Kings xvii. 8, &c.
[4123] Mark vii. 32.
[4124] Ps. lviii. 4, 5.
[4125] Ib. xiii. 3.
[4126] Ib. xxxvi. 9.
[4127] Matt. xiii. 25.
[4128] Ps. lxxxiv. 6. So LXX. and Vulgate. Various interpretations are given of these Steps, but they differ only by indicating different virtues and good works as especially intended, and may well be summed up under the three heads of the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways of salvation. A man can set in his heart such a "going up" by the co-operation of grace and free will.--Neale & Littledale in Pss.
[4129] Luke xi. 24.
[4130] Mark v. 13.
[4131] Ps. xcvii. 11.
[4132] Prov. xiii. 9.
[4133] Ps. lxxvi. 4.
[4134] Ib. xliii. 3.
[4135] Ib. iv. 7.
[4136] Isa. l. 11.
[4137] Luke xii. 49.
[4138] Anagoge is one of the three methods of mystical interpretation, according to the distich, Littera scripta docet: Quid credas allegoria: Quid speres anagoge; Quid agas tropologia.
[4139] cf. Isa. xlvii. 14. LXX.
[4140] Gen. xix. 24.
[4141] Ps. xi. 6.
[4142] Matt. xxv. 41.
[4143] Ps. xcvii. 3.
[4144] Mark ix. 44, &c.
[4145] i.e. To view the Fire there spoken of as Temporal punishment, with a purpose of correcting and reforming the sinner. This is not S. Gregory's own view of the meaning of the passage, though he admits it to be tenable.
[4146] Isa. xvi. 3.
[4147] A strange paraphrase of the last clause of Ps. cxxxix. 11, in the LXX., "And I said, then the darkness shall swallow me, and night is enlightenment in my luxury."
[4148] Thus LXX. in Hosea x. 12, where we read "Break up your fallow ground."
[4149] Matt. v. 14.
[4150] Phil. ii. 15, 16.
[4151] Jer. xlii. 16.
[4152] Rom. xiii. 13.
[4153] Prov. iv. 25.
[4154] Matt. vii. 2.
[4155] Ps. lxxxv. 8.
[4156] Ib. cxliii. 8.